Image networks for mobile communication

ABSTRACT

A mobile communication system based on images, enabling communication between a plurality of mobile devices and servers, wherein the images have associated additional properties in the nature of voice, audio, data and other information. The system further enabling the formation of one or more image networks wherein the images are stored, organized, connected and linked to each other by one or more methods inclusive of one to one connection between images, a hierarchical connection between images and or other methods of connection between images to facilitate efficient image based communication between mobile devices, stationary devices and servers based on the mobile device identification, mobile device specific profiles and user specific profiles. The imaged base network system further having the ability to learn and form intelligent association between objects, people and other entities; between images and the associated data relating to both animate and inanimate entities for intelligent image based communication in a network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.15/182,992 filed Jun. 15, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/864,808, filed Apr. 17, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No.8,818,451), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/769,621, filed on Jan. 30, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,483,754), thecontents of each of the mentioned applications are incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the prior art the primary methods of communication are primarilyvoice based such as by means of a communication device such as thetelephone, cellular telephone or other mobile devices augmented asneeded by textual methods such as handwriting. In recent times thecommunication methods have expanded to include such digital andelectronic methods as e-mail with the ability to receive files of voice,audio, video and data files as attachments and the means for recoding,playing and or viewing these files. In the prior art these files arediscrete and separate and do not necessarily exist as one composite filethus limiting utility.

However, the primary means of communication in the prior art is notimage based whereas human beings by nature relate better to image basedcommunication and visual stimuli. The ability of human beings torecognize an image and respond to an image is far superior to othercognitive senses and is preferred by itself and or in combination withother methods such as voice. The communication systems of the prior arthave a number of limitations making communication between individualsthat have a physical limitation such as a hearing impairment or alanguage barrier difficult. Consequently, it is desirable to have ameans for communicating primarily by means of images coupled as desiredby the user with one or more other methods selected by the user, such asvoice, audio, text and data and other methods as deemed appropriate forthe desired application. In the prior art the means for interfacing witha mobile device such as cell phone has certain limitations for dataentry being key stroke based, pen based for touch screens or voicebased. There is a need for image based communication since theintegration of image acquisition capabilities with a mobile device allowfor the sending and receiving of images on a mobile device. However, theprior art just enables the viewing of the images and does not enable theimage to be endowed with different types of related information thusrendering the images of the prior art to have limited utility and nofunctionality that could be associated with the image and or launched bytouching an entire image or a subset of an image such as a photo.

The present invention is intended to solve the problem enumerated aboveand other problems. The present invention describes and teaches a novelmethod for constructing image networks for efficient and intelligentcommunication between one or more mobile devices, stationary devices,servers and individuals using images as a medium of communication withrelated device profiles and user profiles. The present inventionadditionally teaches novel means for associating the image with one ormore attributes and characteristics coupled with other forms ofcommunication such as text, voice, data and other methods. The presentinvention in a novel manner leverages the ability to digitize all typesof data inclusive of images, voice, text, data and other informationenabling the establishment of relationships with the different types ofthe data components coupled with the ability to use the mobile device byitself and one or more servers in conjunction with the mobile device todeliver unique and novel utility not offered by the prior art.

The image networks of the present invention are constructed enablingsecure and trusted communication by means of encryption and other novelsecurity features. Images by their very nature require the processingand storage of a large amount of digital data. Additionally, when animage is coupled with various types of other data such as text, voice,and digital data, the resulting combination requires significant realtime processing and storage. The present invention teaches a novelmethod for enabling the real time processing and storage of images bymeans of the mobile device acting by itself and or in conjunction withother mobile devices, and local, central and or network servers.

The present invention additionally teaches the system level means forassociating the image of an animate or inanimate object with collateralinformation relating to the object acquired by one or more meansinclusive of, image sensors, RF ID tags also known as radio frequencyidentification tags to enable intelligent image networks that arecapable of being integrated into a larger digital network existinglocally or on the Internet.

The present invention teaches the system for using the image that isdisplayed on a standard display or the image that is displayed on atouch sensitive display to be associated with various profiles relatingto the image comprising of audio, voice, text, data, function and otherinformation; further providing the means for actuation and control offunctions and applications based on images and or subsets of the imagesbeing displayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to enable image basedcommunication between mobile devices, stationary devices, and servers bywired or wireless communication means.

It is an object of the present invention to enable the construction andimplementation of virtual image based networks.

It is an object of the present invention to enable images to beassociated inherently or by specific selection with one or more othermethods of communication such as text, voice, audio, data and otherforms.

It is an object of the present invention to enable image networks to becomposed of a series of images to form a video with the explicitintention that the definition and the use of the term image networks isinclusive of various types of photos, graphics, still images and videorendered one at a time or sequentially and continuously.

It is an object of the present invention to define the acquisition meansof the image to include by means of light in various wave lengths,inclusive of methods such as night vision spectra and other electromagnetic means.

It is an object of the present invention to enable the image by itselfto be processed as digital data and combined selectively or inherentlywith other forms of digital data such as text, voice, audio, data andother forms to form one composite resultant entity for the desiredutility in an image network.

It is an object of the present invention to encode, decode, compress, decompress the digitized image data by itself with various methods forencryption, decryption, compression and decompression that are bestsuited for each type of images or subset of an image to enable secureand efficient communication.

It is an object of the present invention to encode and decode thedigitized text, voice, audio and other data by themselves and or incombination with various methods for encryption, decryption, compressionand decompression that are best suited for each form and type of data toenable secure and efficient communication.

It is an object of the present invention to enable a unique encryptionand compression key to be associated with the image and the other dataassociated with the specific image, sub set of the image or the specificimage network that the image is part of by means of the mobile deviceacting by itself and or in conjunction with the central server acting asa trusted escrow server.

It is an object of the present invention to enable a unique decryptionand decompression key to be associated with the image and the other dataassociated with the specific image, sub set of the image or the specificimage network that the image is part of by means of the mobile deviceacting by itself and or in conjunction with the central server acting asa trusted escrow server.

It is an object of the present invention to enable a unique encryption,decryption, compression and decompression keys to be associated with theimage and the other data associated with the specific image, sub set ofthe image or the specific image network that the image is part of bymeans of one or more mobile devices directly exchanging the keys for aspecific image based communication with said keys being enabled for aspecific purpose, at a specific time or for a specific duration.

Yet another object of the present invention teaches the system levelmeans for associating the image of an animate or inanimate object withcollateral information relating to the object acquired by one or morewired or wireless means inclusive of, image sensors and RF ID tags alsoknown as radio frequency identification tags to enable intelligent imagenetworks that are capable of being integrated into a larger digitalnetwork existing locally or on the Internet.

Another object of the invention is to enable an image to be dynamicallyconstructed and or deconstructed as a virtual digital image entity bysoftware means of the image itself and or in association with otherrelated parameters such as voice, text, data and other relatedinformation.

Another object of the invention is to enable a digital image entity tobe dynamically constructed and deconstructed such that the digital imageentity comes into existence at a specified time, exists for a desiredduration of time, and ceases to exist at a set time, with the additionalfeatures of being launched for a specific purpose.

Another object of the invention is to enable a digital image entity tobe dynamically constructed and deconstructed such that the digital imageentity is transformed by one or more algorithms to another digital imageentity based on factors such as the security levels, the physicalnetworks being traversed, the specific mobile devices being used and theindividuals using the specific mobile device.

Another object of the invention is to enable a digital image entity tobe characterized by form and function wherein the image entity conveysdescriptive attributes and or executable functions resulting in thedesired actions being actuated, wherein such actions specifically relateto the entire image entity and or sub image entities comprising of theentire image entity.

Another object of the invention is to enable a digital image entity tobe characterized by form and function wherein the image entity consistsof executable functions which may be actuated by pen based touch, fingerbased touch, voice, audio, sound, speech, light or other pointer meansactuation methods by wired or wireless communication means to deliverthe desired output such as audio, video and text, voice and speech inone or more languages.

Another object of the invention is to enable a digital image entity oran entire image network to be propagated across a network of mobiledevices, stationary devices and servers to one or more selected mobiledevices at the desired time and in the desired sequence, wherein suchpropagation of the image entity or the image network causes the imagenetwork existing on the mobile device prior to the propagation to beupdated instantaneously or at the desired time.

Another object of the invention is to enable a digital image entity oran entire image network to be propagated across a network of users basedon the profiles of the user, at the desired time and in the desiredsequence to cause one or more social, professional, personal or othernetworks of the user to be updated.

Another object of the invention is to enable a digital image entity, asubset of an image entity or an entire network of images to bepropagated across a network of intelligent devices and display devicessuch a computer, TV, monitor or other devices based on the profiles ofthe mobile devices and or the user, at the desired time and in thedesired sequence for the desired utility.

Another objective is to enable a display for a TV or monitor or adisplay for mobile devices to be configured for high definition qualityby enabling images to be viewed as image entities and for the entirescreen or portion of the screen to be modified and or controlled in agranular manner.

Another objective is to enable the screen image as an image network thatis as a network or image entities for the provision of better qualitymultimedia experience.

Another objective is to enable control, actuation of functions bytouching a specific portions of the screen or subsets of the screen tolaunch one or more applications and or control functions and oractuation functions related to other intelligent devices.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, being incorporated in and forming a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of thepresent invention:

FIG. 1 shows a mobile device comprising of a plurality of deviceprofiles and user profiles with the capability to acquire images andrelated information, capability to recognize the images and compare theimages, and the capability to send, receive, process and store by wiredor wireless communication means. The image further being described as avirtual image entity by software means wherein the image entitycomprises of an image profile that associates the image with collateralinformation such as audio, voice, text, speech, location, time data,handwriting, encryption/decryption, compression/decompression,description, behavior, function and relationships to otherimages/objects to form an image profile.

FIG. 2 shows a network of image entities that are virtually connected toeach other by software means. Each of the images entities are describedas having a relationship to the other enabling an intelligent imagenetwork to be constructed.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged image network comprising of one or more imageentities connected together defined by a virtual relationship. Eachimage entity each further comprises of one or more sub image entitiesthat are connected to a specific image entity by their own subrelationships. This figure shows a hierarchical relationship of an imageentity to sub image entities, showing an image network within an imagenetwork.

FIG. 4 shows an even more extended and enlarged image network forming asuper image network, comprising of one or more super image entitiesbeing connected together defined by a virtual relationship between thesuper images. Each super image entity further comprises of one or moreimage entities that form an image network wherein each image networkcomprises of sub image entities forming a sub image network.

FIG. 5 shows a cellular telephone/mobile device, CT/MD, configured withimage acquisition capabilities such as by means of a built in orexternal camera, means for wired or wireless communication bytransmit/receive functions, means for display, said display being touchscreen or non touch screen enabled. The mobile device is part of aphysical network formed by an image switch/router, servers, intelligentdevices and sensors having the ability to communicate with a peoplenetwork, a device network, an object network, and an image network.

FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of an image switch/router wherein the imageswitch/router is capable of taking inputs of an image entity andoutputting same or a transformed image entity for the construction ofand communication with different nodes in an image network.

FIG. 7 shows a virtual object network described in software comprisingof one or more objects wherein each object has a defined relationship toanother. Additionally, each object is related to one or moresub-objects.

FIG. 8 shows a virtual super object network described in softwarecomprising of a super object that comprises of one or more other butrelated objects.

FIG. 9 shows an object entity that is defined as an object with anassociated object profile. The figure further shows the 3 dimensionalexternal view of the object, with images being acquired from one or morespherical angles wherein an image entity is generated for each view.

FIG. 10 shows the view of an object from an internal to the objectperspective. The image sensor located internal to the object generatesone or more image entities to form a image network that establishes arelationship that best describes the object.

FIG. 11 shows a network composed of mobile devices/users, local,central, network and escrow servers, image switch router, a controllerthat enables actuation and functionality by a plurality of interfacemethods, and a touch screen or non touch screen display that comprisesof a tool bar. Various image entities are enabled for display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

These features and other novel features are described in detail tofurther illustrate and explain with reference to the appended figures.

Referring now to FIG. 1 in detail, describes a mobile device 100configured with standard features and or additional special featuresthat define and enable the functionality of cell phones, laptopcomputers, personal digital assistant PDA, and other mobile devices. Themobile device 100 is configured with a display 101 which may be touchsensitive or alternately not touch sensitive. The mobile device 100 maybe configured with a plurality of display windows and display types. Themobile device is characterized by one or more device profiles, 102, 103and 104. The device profile comprising of information such as devicemodel, device identification number, one or more mobile telephonenumbers to empower the user to program and or select the desired deviceprofile for the desired purpose and at the desired time. The mobiledevice user is further enabled to establish, modify and enable aplurality of user profiles, 105, 106 and 107 for use by itself and or inconjunction with the selected device profiles for the desired purpose.

The mobile device is enabled with the capability to acquire images bybuilt in camera or external means 109, send 110, receive 111, processwith a built in processor 112, store information locally 113, recognizeand compare image and other patterns 114, with the composite functionsbeing represented by 108 for providing the needed functionality forwired or wireless communication of images and other information.

The image entity 120 describes the relationship between the image 130,and video 131 and other collateral and associated information which isdefined as an image profile 121. The image profile 121, comprises ofaudio 140, voice/speech 141, language 150, text 151, handwriting 152,data 160, location 170, time 171, encryption 180, compression 181,description 190, function 191, behavior 192 and relationship 193.

The image 130 and video 131 can be expressed as purely digital data andall of the other information associated with the image profile 121 mayalso be represented as purely digital data. The digital rendering of thecomposite data creates a purely digital image entity 120 comprising ofan image and an image profile. Thus an image entity can be efficientlycommunicated across a wired or wireless physical network, received andsent and further processed for the desired utility to form a virtualnetwork composed of images and associated image profiles. As an examplean image entity can be viewed just as an image only or activated todeliver voice, music or other functions by selecting the functionalityby appropriate interface means such as touching a portion of the image,by voice command and or other means.

Efficient communication is achieved through compression anddecompression as may be appropriate at the send or receive side of adevice in the physical network. The conversion of voice, speech, textand handwriting is enabled by digital processing of the data at themobile device level, the local server level, the central server level,the network server level and or the network server level to provideenhanced utility to the mobile device user based on mobile deviceprofiles and or user profiles. The behavior of an image by itself and orin relation to other images is capable of being modeled. The dynamicconstruction, storage and use of a virtual image entity is enabled bysoftware means using the software, processingpower/databases/lookup-tables resident within the mobile device and orin conjunction with the software, processingpower/databases/lookup-tables resident in a physical network at thelocal, central, escrow and or the network server by fully leveraging thewired or wireless connectivity.

In the present system a plurality of device profiles and user profiles,with the capability to acquire images and related information by mobiledevice means, capability to recognize the images and compare the images,and the capability to send, receive, process and store by wired orwireless communication means is described. The image further beingdescribed as a virtual image entity by software means wherein the imageentity comprises of an image profile that associates the image withcollateral information such as audio, voice, text, speech, location,time data, handwriting, encryption/decryption,compression/decompression, description, behavior, function andrelationships to other images/objects to form an image profile.

An image entity thus is unitized as a distinct and identifiable digitalentity, said unitized image entity having embedded multimediacapabilities, location, security and executable functions that areinherently associated with the image with the added ability to launchthe desired multimedia method for rendering and or actuating a desiredvirtual or physical function. The unitized digital image entities arelinked together to form an image network with the ability to send theselected unitized image entity across a physical network or across onevirtual image network to another and or propagate an entire imagenetwork across a physical network to a mobile devices, servers and otherdevices for delivering utility to the user based on device/userprofiles. The linking of image entities to form a image network isrelationship based, where the user defines the relationship or therelationship is learnt by software means based on the past user behaviorpatterns and potential user behavior patterns.

A mobile device is enabled in the present invention to digitize andunitize an image entity by means of the software/processing power,storage/databases/lookup-tables resident on the mobile device and or inconjunction with the software/processing power,storage/databases/lookup-tables resident on the local, central, escrowand or network servers leveraging the high speed wired or wirelessconnectivity between mobile devices and stationary devices. Currently,transmission across a digital network is by means of digital packets.The image entity is composed of digital data packets. However, thesepackets of digital data have a pre-existing relationship in the form ofan image entity that is digitized and unitized. The image entity may bedescribed as a super sized packet of digital data enabling thetransmission of image entities efficiently across a network todynamically construct/deconstruct and switch and rout image entities inan image network.

Referring now to FIG. 2 in detail, the image entity 200, the imageentity 210 and the image entity 230 form a basic image network whereinthe image entities are virtually connected by means of the relationship231, 232 and 233. The relationship between image entities is defined andexecuted in software which is resident on the mobile device and or theservers. The relationship data is further stored in lookup-tables forenabling dynamic lookup of a relationship between images for providingefficient routing and delivery of the image and the image profile acrossan image network.

Referring now to FIG. 3 in detail, a plurality of image entities, 300,310 and 330 comprise an image network with defined relationships 330,331 and 332 which describe the detailed and specific relationshipsbetween each image entity. The image entity 300 comprises of sub imageentities 301, 302, 303, and 304 that share a relationship with eachother in addition to the parent image entity 300. The image entity 310comprises of a set of constituent sub image entities that are labeled as311, 312, 313, and 314. These sub-image entities share a relationship toportions of the larger image entity 310. The image entity 320 comprisesof a set of constituent sub image entities 321, 322, 323, and 324. Thesesub image entities derive properties from sections of the larger imageentity 320 and include certain attributes and parameters that are notexplicitly part of image 320.

Referring now to FIG. 4 in detail, a plurality of super image entities,400, 410, 420 comprise an image network with defined relationships 430,431, and 432. The super image entity 400 maintains relationships withimage entities 401, 402, 403, and 404. The relationship between imageentity 400 and 402 is determined by the relationship between imageentity 400 and 401 and the relationship between image entity 401 and 402and or other combinations. The image entity 420 and 430 may maintainsimilar or other types of serial, combinational and or hierarchicalrelationships with their respective constituent images.

Further referring now to both FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the foregoingarchitecture, system of organizing and establishing virtualrelationships between various super image entities, image entities andsub image entities enables the dynamic construction of highly useful andrelevant image networks. The software for constructing, deconstructing,modifying and enabling of the image networks may be reside within themobile device and or the servers with specific protocols and complexalgorithms being employed using the processing power and data bases ofone or more mobile devices by itself, in combination and or inconjunction with a local, central, escrow and or network server. Theimage network may be transformed or modified automatically, based ondevice and user profiles and rendered for a specific purpose and or fora specific duration with the desired security levels. The security keyfor a virtual image network may be dynamically enabled by a mobiledevice acting alone and or in conjunction with an escrow server.

Referring now to FIG. 5 in detail, the mobile device represented by thelegend CT/MD and comprises of one or more display windows and displaytypes inclusive of a touch screen enabled display 505, an imageacquisition unit such as a built in or external camera 506, atransmit/receive unit for enabling wired or wireless communication 507.The mobile device acquires the image of an object dynamically and inreal time. The object entity 500, describes the object in detail bymeans of an object profile 504. The object profile comprises of objectdescription 501, object form, object function, object behavior, objectrelationships together represented as a group 502 and the objectidentification and object communication together represented as 503.Additionally, the object may be identified by one or more identificationmethods inclusive of radio frequency enabled tags and embedded chipsthat enable either one way or two way communication between the object,the mobile device and or the servers. Another method of objectidentification and communication is by sound based methods wherein anaudible signal is emitted or received. The RF and or other methodsenable specific digital information to be transmitted and or received.The present invention enables the integration and intelligentcombination of the object identification object profile data rendered indigital form to be associated with an object, object network, an imageand an image network.

Referring once again to FIG. 5 in detail, the mobile device isconfigured to create and output and send by wired or wireless means animage entity 508 comprising of an image 509 and an associated imageprofile 510. The image entity may be transmitted by wired or wirelessmeans to an image switch/router 520, further processed within the imageswitch/router and sent across the physical network to a local server521, central server 522, escrow server 524 and or a network server 523;or to other mobile devices 594/user 596 and mobile device 595/user 597,stationary device 590, image sensor 591, intelligent sensor 592 andintelligent device 593. The image sensor is enabled for acquiring andtransmitting/receiving image providing a real time response to actualimage, change in images and other related information wherein theinformation may be rendered as an image entity by the image switch, themobile device, the servers and or the image sensor itself.

The mobile device user by means of the mobile device is enabled todynamically construct and deconstruct various types of image networks530, for the desired utility and associate these networks with a desireduser profile and or a mobile device profile. The image network comprisesof constituent image entities 531, 532, 533, 534 and 535. Similarlyanother image network 540 and 550 may be constructed. Similarly avirtual object network 580 is enabled comprising of related objects andsub objects.

The utility of an image network is derived when the virtual imagenetwork is accessible by one or more mobile devices 573, 572, and 571comprising a device network 570 which in turn is connected by wired orwireless means to other stationary devices, intelligent devices,intelligent sensors, image sensors, local servers, central servers,escrow servers, and network servers. The physical network formed in thismanner enables the innovative software to be deployed at one or moredevices/servers providing the means for constructing and implementingimage networks by leveraging the processingpower/databases/lookup-tables at the desired nodes in the physicalnetwork and or a combination of nodes in the network.

The utility to one or more individual users 596 and 597 is furtherenabled when the virtual image network is the either a preferred ornecessary medium of communication between users because of ease of use.Additionally, individuals may form a virtual network of people joinedtogether for a specific purpose such as social networks, professionalnetworks, enterprise networks, family networks, friends networks andother networks. Such virtual people networks are represented by 560 withspecific individuals and their relationships with each other beingrepresented by 561, 562, 563, 564 and 565. Each user in such peoplenetworks has one or more profiles and is enabled to form multiple peoplenetworks. The present invention teaches the means for propagating animage entity to a specific device/user and or to a plurality ofdevices/user enabling the people networks to be a viable means for arich and meaningful communication and interaction. An image entity or aseries of image entities may be propagated to the desired devices/usersat the desired time and for the desired purpose enabling image networkbased multimedia communication that is relevant in a highlyinterconnected digital world. Further the image entity is replicated anddelivered and placed in specific nodes of one or more people networks ofa user and or one or more people networks of a plurality of users.

Referring now to FIG. 6 in detail, the Image Switch/Router 610 comprisesof an I/O processor, 611 for the processing of image entities as inputsand outputs; a digitizer and formatter 612 to enable the inputs/outputsto be digitized as needed and formatted as needed for furtherprocessing/send/receive/storage. Means for encryption/decryption, 614 ofoutgoing image entities, wherein each image entity may be encrypted atone or more levels of security and various sub image entities may beencrypted at one or more different levels of security for providinggranular security.

The image switch/router further comprising the capability for patternrecognition of images by the image processor, 615, a means forcomparison of images and image profiles 616, a general purpose processorand one or more special purpose processors, 618 for processing audio andother digital signals, a means for storage and means for establishinglookup-tables, 619 and an I/O manager for enabling the desired switchingand routing across a physical network or the virtual image network.

The inputs to the image switch/router consist of an image entity, 600that further comprises of an image, 601 and an image profile, 602. Theoutputs to the image switch/router consist of an image entity, 630 thatfurther comprises of an image, 631 and an image profile, 632. Theforegoing architecture is for illustrative purposes and the novelfeatures of processing an image entity may be executed by software by asingle processor and other modifications to form an image switch/routerfor switching and routing of images in an image network.

The image network, 640 comprising of sub image entities 641 through 645;the image network, 650 comprising of sub image entities 651 through 652and the image network, 660 comprising of sub image entities 661 through663 are virtual entities that exist on the network at one or more nodesand storage devices. The entire image network such as 640, 650 and 660and or a specific image entity within these image individual imagenetworks may be swapped from one network to another by image switchingand routing; and or generally sent across a physical network to aphysical device by means of routing tables/protocols 670, 671 and 672.

The novel system of the present invention thus enables an image to belinked with its associated profile, the profile further having audio,text, data and other information to form an image entity that is purelydigital and virtual; enabling the image entities to be linked togetherby a user defined relationship to form a virtual image network which canbe propagated across a physical network to a physical device for thedesired display format and or further utility to the user based ondevice profiles and user profiles. The utility may be derived by visualmeans only and or coupled with other mediums such as voice, text andothers since the image entity comprises of such collateral forms ofinformation.

The actuation of the image entity may be executed by a plurality ofinterface methods to access the specific digital data individually andor in combination inclusive of the capability to launch an applicationthat performs a specific function and or action, said functions andactions being virtually executed and or physically enabled. An exampleof this is by clicking on an image of a garage door the door may beopened or closed. Another example is the image entity may be associatedvirtually with another image entity. For example the image of a car, acar whose image is characterized and related to the home owner, that isapproaching the garage from the outside may cause the garage door toopen, since these two images are linked by a relationship that waspreviously defined and approved by the user. The garage door wasphysically opened in this example since the software caused a functionto be executed. The behavior can also be learned based on user definedprofiles. Thus image based networks of the present invention are ofgreat utility and practical applications. An image based network bydefinition includes still images and video.

Referring now to FIG. 7 in detail, a plurality of objects, 700, 710 and720 comprise an object network with defined relationships 730, 731 and732 which describe the detailed and specific relationships between eachobject. This forms an object network describable in software as anobject network. The object when coupled with its associateddescriptions, identification, parameters and relationships is defined asan object entity. The object entity 700 comprises of sub object entities701, 702, 703, and 704 that share a relationship with each other inaddition to the parent image entity 700. An example of this is a sidechair of a dining table ensemble with four legs wherein the chair andthe legs of the chair have a defined relationship that may be describedin software as an object sub-network. The image entity 710 comprises ofa set of constituent sub object entities that are labeled as 711, 712,713, and 714. These sub-image entities share a relationship to portionsof the larger image entity 710. As an example this object sub-networkmay represent in software an arm chair within the same diningtable-chair group. The image entity 720 comprises of a set ofconstituent sub image entities 721, 722, 723, and 724. These sub imageentities derive properties from sections of the larger image entity 720and include certain attributes and parameters that are not explicitlypart of image 720. The object entities 700, 710 and 720 form an objectnetwork that is virtually defined by a software program. The objectnetwork may be linked to various real images of the different objects toenable a real visual representation forming a virtual image network thatis of utility as explained elsewhere in the present teaching.

Referring now to FIG. 8 in detail, a plurality of super object entities,800, 810, 820 comprise an object network with defined relationships 830,831, and 832. The super object entity 800 maintains relationships withobject entities 801, 802, 803, and 804. The relationship between objectentity 800 and 802 is determined by the relationship between objectentity 800 and 801 and the relationship between object entity 801 and802 and or other combinations. The object 820 and 830 may maintainsimilar or other types of serial, combinational and or hierarchicalrelationships with their respective constituent objects.

Further referring now to both FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the foregoingarchitecture, system of organizing and establishing virtualrelationships between various objects that may be animate or inanimateis of great utility especially when associated with a real image or avirtual computer generated image enabling the user to visualize, designand even actuate the desired function of an object or cause a desiredtransformation of form and function of a physical object by remotenetwork access means. Ability to establish an intelligent relationshipbetween super object entities, object entities and sub object entitiesenables the dynamic construction of highly useful and relevant objectnetworks. The software for constructing, deconstructing, modifying andenabling of the object networks may be reside within the mobile deviceand or the servers with specific protocols and complex algorithms beingemployed using the processing power and data bases of one or more mobiledevices by itself, in combination and or in conjunction with a local,central, escrow and or network server. The object network may betransformed or modified automatically, based on device and user profilesand rendered for a specific purpose and or for a specific duration withthe desired security levels. The security key for a virtual objectnetwork may be dynamically enabled by a mobile device acting alone andor in conjunction with an escrow server. The object networks may beinterrelated with the associated image network.

Referring now to FIG. 9 in detail, an object may be viewed from theoutside from all 360 degrees of angle to present the best visualrepresentation of its characteristics. At times it is not possible toobtain a full 360 degree view and a visual representation must berendered by extrapolation means. A mobile device and or other devicesmay be used for image acquisition for obtaining a full or partial realand visual representation of the object. The object 900 with theassociated object profile 901 forms an object entity. The object profilecontains detailed information about the object such as object type,object identification by RF tag or other means, object relationships andother relevant information.

The object entity 900 may be viewed by a camera, image sensors or otherimage acquisition methods from all angles when physically possible toget an image with an associated image profile to form an image entitythat best describes the object when viewed from that particular angle orvantage point. The Image entities 910, 920, 930, 940, 950, 960, 970 and980 represent the view from different angles. The representation isintended to be 3D spherical and not two dimensional.

Example of an object that may be viewed from the outside is a home. Inthe event the full view from all angles is not possible due to lack ofaccess, then it is possible by software means to extrapolate usingvarious algorithms to render an image that is most representative. Theability to generate image entities with a mobile device and or othermeans is enabled, to represent an object and construct an object networkand or an image network. The image network is represented as 990 showingan image network of all the images thus generated with their respectiveimage profiles.

Referring now to FIG. 10 in detail, an object may be viewed from theinside from all 360 degrees of angle to present the best visualrepresentation of its characteristics. At times it is not possible toobtain a full 360 degree view and a visual representation must berendered by extrapolation means. A mobile device, image sensor and orother devices may be used for image acquisition for obtaining a full orpartial real and visual representation of the object. The object 1000with the associated object profile forms a super object entity that isbeing represented from the inside. The mobile device, image sensor andor other means for image acquisition is represented by 1001.

The object entity 1000 may be viewed by a camera, image sensor or otherimage acquisition methods from all angles when physically possible, toget an image with an associated image profile to form an image entitythat best describes the object when viewed from that particular insideangle or vantage point. The Image entities 1010, 1020, 1030, 1040, 1050,1060, 1070 and 1080 represent the view from different angles. Therepresentation is intended to be 3D spherical and not two dimensional.The image network is represented as 1090 showing an image network of allthe images thus generated from the inside with their respective imageprofiles.

The image networks generated from the inside and or the outsiderepresent the object enabling these virtual image networks to be stored,further processed or sent to the desired mobile device, stationarydevice and or the servers in a physical network. The ability toconstruct/deconstruct/modify/store and generally render the imagenetworks to be useful is enabled by means of the mobile device acting byitself and or in conjunction with other mobile devices, sensors andservers leveraging the software, processing power, storage, databases,lookup-tables and wired or wireless connectivity in a desired manner bythe user at the desired node in a physical network. The imageacquisition may be means of light in any wavelength, by sound, byelectromagnetic means such as RF and other methods.

Each physical object and subsets of an object may be uniquely identifiedand represented by a plurality of characteristics, relationships andbehavior patterns. The identification of an object and or subsets of anobject may be by attached or embedded RF tags or chips wherein the tagsand chips contain the relevant information such as form, function,colors, size, relationships and other parameters. Additionally soundbased methods may be used for location determination in an environment.Location may be determined by GPS, global positioning means. The abilityto time stamp and location stamp the original object entity definitioncoupled with the precise location and time of the construction of anobject network is enabled. The objects transmit/receive data by means ofthe communication tags/chips enabling the data to be characterized andenabling placement of the object entity in a virtual object network. Theconstruction, deconstruction, modification and storage of the objectnetwork is also time stamped, location stamped and author stamped bysoftware means. Similarly, the original definition of the virtual imageentity is, author, time and location stamped by software means. Theplacement of each image entity in a virtual image network is alsoauthor, time and location stamped by software means enabling thediscovery trail of one or more actions. The construction,deconstruction, modification and storage of the image network is alsotime stamped, location stamped and author stamped by software means.

The object may be defined as an object entity with a plurality of objectprofiles or no object profile. The object network may be defined with aplurality of object network profiles or no object network profiles. Theimage may be defined as an image entity with a plurality of imageprofiles or no image profile. The image network may be defined with aplurality of image network profiles or no image network profiles. Theforegoing teaches the means for object and image networks to be enableddynamically and in real time.

Referring now to FIG. 11 in detail, the physical network located locallyor on an extended network or the Internet with wired or wirelesscommunication capabilities comprises of an Image switch router 1140 forenabling the switching and routing of image entities and image networks,a intelligent device 1141 such as a TV and other devices, a intelligentsensor 1142 for sensing and transmitting/receiving one or moreconditions such as images, temperature, radiation levels and otherconditions, one or mobile devices 1144, one or more users 1143, centralserver 1145, network server 1146, escrow server 1147, stationary device1148 and local server 1149.

The controller 1120 may be a remote controller or a mobile device thatperforms the additional functions of the controller in an image networkand or a standard non image network. The mobile device may be configuredto perform the functions of a controller 1120 by itself and or inconjunction with the processing power of the local, central, escrow, thenetwork server and the image switch/router. Alternately some or all ofthe functions of the controller may be incorporated in one or moredevices and the display. The controller comprises of different types ofactuation, command, control and function enabling features and serves asa means for interfacing with one or more devices, servers and thedisplay. The controller function may be embedded in a mobile device.

One type of interface is by means of touch 1121 further comprising oftactile 1122, keyboard 1123, pen or stylus 1124, and finger 1125.Another type of interface may be by optical means 1130 inclusive oflight pointer 1129, infrared 1128 and other types of laser and opticalmethods, wherein the act of pointing at an image activates the imageentity and launches an application. In addition another interface meansis sound based 1127 by one or more methods. Another type of interfaceand command and control is by RF means, 1126. The image entity or theimage network is enabled to execute certain desired functions by theappropriate command and control interface methods by means of thefunction selector 1132.

The biometric command, control and authentication features 1133 areenabled by means of fingerprint 1134, photo identification 1135, retinalscan means 1136 and speech/voice recognition means 1137 with languagetranslation 1138. The controller function is enabled by wired orwireless methods of communication. The controller enables a high degreeof personalization to the profiles of different devices and users withthe added capability for behavior modeling and response by means of theprocessing capability of the controller by itself and or in conjunctionwith a local, central, escrow and network server. The escrow server orthe central server performs trusted authentication for a desired actionor activity related to any network or any function thus providing a highlevel of security to the user and the integrity of the network.

The display 1100 may be a standard non touch screen display such a CRT,plasma, LCD or other methods. The display may be touch screen enabled.The display may comprise of one or more physical or virtual displayareas for the desired utility. Different windows are enabled within thedisplay of same or different types of interface.

The display is part of the physical network enabled for communication bywired or wireless means with other devices. Another novel embodiment ofthe present invention, the display is configured with one or moreprocessors, storage, databases, lookup-tables and software to enabledynamic adjustments of the entire display area and or the adjustments ofany localized area down to the pixel level for delivering images, imagenetworks and video to the personalized viewing preference of the user.

In another novel embodiment of the present invention, the displayconfiguration and settings may be learned to the behavior patterns ofthe user for a specific type of image, image networks and video. Inanother embodiment of the present invention the spatial distortionsacross the display area, the aberrations in color and intensity ofdifferent images is also dynamically managed by local processing withinthe display and or in conjunction with the tremendous processing powerof one or more servers. These features are dynamically and in real timeenabled by means of the software, processing power, storage, databasesand lookup-tables resident on the display itself and or in conjunctionwith the software, processing power, storage, databases andlookup-tables resident on the mobile device, controller, local, central,escrow and or network server.

Referring to FIG. 11 in detail once again, the display area isconfigured with an optional tool bar 1101. The tool bar is actuated byone or more interface methods as described with reference to thecontroller 1120. The tool bar as an example may be activated by voice,speech, light pointer, touch and other means as preferred and selectedby the user for close-up or remote activation by means of thecontroller, mobile device or another device. The tool bar is enabled tolaunch and activate one or more applications such as show an image, playvideo, audio, music and or launch a command and control function such assee what is in the refrigerator and display the contents of thenetworked intelligent refrigerator or other intelligent devices. Thetool bar is further enabled to launch one or more functions to accessweb servers located on the Internet and or servers located on theIntranet, for surfing, content and or other activities. The tool bar iscapable of performing the functions of a traditional Internet browser ofthe prior art and other enhanced functions and being activated bymultimedia command and control features.

The display configuration described in the embodiment of the presentinvention is all digital communication and processing enabled andrelates to mobile devices and also stationary intelligent devices suchas a Television or a monitor to provide a very high definition and highfidelity multimedia experience.

Referring to FIG. 11 once more in detail, the images and theirassociated image profiles form an image entity rendered digitally as aunique entity. The display is configured to show a series of images onlyor image entities separately or as an image network. As an example theentire display area is denoted by the image entity 1102, and the actualimage being displayed is denoted by Screen image 1103. The viewer seesthe super image which gets updated periodically with another super imageat the desired rate for best visual experience. The visual experience isformed by viewing a series of super images that are refreshed andupdated at an optimal frequency. As an example the image entity 1104comprises of a series of sub image entities 1105, 1106 and 1107 with adefined relationship to the image entity 1104. The image entities 1108and 1109 are shown separately as being part of screen image 1103.Another super image entity 1110 comprising of image entities and subimage entities 1111, 1112 and 113 are shown. These features are shownfor illustrative purpose whereas in reality the screen image iscomprised of a large number of image entities of varying sizes andcharacteristics with a defined relationship to each other and anotherdefined relationship to the screen image. These images are dynamicallyrendered, delivered, modified and updated to deliver the best screenimage. The screen image is by this means configured as a image networkthat gets updated at the desired periodicity. The control over theviewing experience is achieved by enabling granular control over imageentities in this image network wherein the image entities may also beupdated at the desired periodicity or desired attributes. This featureenables the screen image or portions of the screen image to bedynamically tuned for the preferences of the user. The granular controlof delivering image entities efficiently makes the quality superior.Additionally, the image entities may be modified to fit the desires andviewing experience of the user. The ability to do these transformationsin real time is enabled by means of the software, processing power,databases and lookup-tables resident within the display and or inconjunction with the software, processing power, databases andlookup-tables resident within the controller, mobile device, to providea high quality multimedia viewing experience. Additionally functions andapplications may be launched by touching and or pointing at certainimages and or the entire screen. Additionally the touch and or pointerand or other means of activation is enabled to show relationships to theimage in the form of text, voice and other attributes related to thatspecific image or subsets of the image or the entire screen.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the presentinvention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed, and it should be understoodthat many modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order tobest explain the principles of the present invention and its practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilizethe present invention and various embodiments, with variousmodifications, as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It isintended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claimsappended hereto and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer implemented method comprising:acquiring at least one image of an object by an image acquisition deviceof a mobile device; rendering a view of the object in the at least oneimage by extrapolation and by capturing one or more additional images ofthe object; and generating a plurality of representations of the view ofthe object including a 360 degree view of the object.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: rendering a plurality of images of theobject that can be viewed as a sequence.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the image acquisition device comprises of at least one camera.4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: an image profile thatassociates the at least one image to one or more collateral information.5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining in associationwith the object both a partial real view and a generated visualrepresentation.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: forming aset of images to depict the object based on the view of the object froma plurality of vantage points.
 7. The method of claim 1, comprising:linking one or more audio files to the rendered view of the object. 8.The method of claim 7, comprising: linking one or more video files tothe rendered view of the object.
 9. The method of claim 8, comprising:providing the one or more video files in association to the renderedview of the object upon a command.
 10. The method of claim 9,comprising: providing for display on the mobile device one or moreassociated web content in association with the rendered view of theobject.